Systems and methods for providing a redeemable commerce object

ABSTRACT

A system includes one or more memory devices storing instructions, and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to perform steps of a method. The system may enable a first user to select a redeemable commerce object to be placed within a web page. The system may create the web page that includes a representation of the redeemable commerce object. A second user may be enabled to view the web page and select the redeemable commerce object in order to redeem it. The system may facilitate the transfer of value from to the second user upon redeeming the redeemable commerce object.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/343,667, filed 31 May 2016, the entire contents and substance ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The presently disclosed subject matter relates generally to systems andmethods for providing a redeemable commerce object, particularly systemsand methods for providing a redeemable commerce object on a web page.

BACKGROUND

Giving gifts to a host, friends, and relatives are a common custom inmany countries. Many gifts have a monetary value (e.g., cash, gift card,etc.), others have a sentimental value (e.g., photographs of family,romantic card, etc.), and some have both (e.g., dad's antique coincollection). As families and friends spread further apartgeographically, it often becomes difficult for a gift giver to provide agift to a recipient and to capture the experience of in-person giftgiving.

E-commerce payment systems and e-card systems provide one way to delivergifts despite inconvenient geographic distance between parties, but aretypically limited to being purely monetary (e.g., person-to-person “P2P”payments) or sentimental (e.g., greeting card). Further, the gift givingexperience for the gift provider and the gift receiving experience forthe recipient when using existing e-commerce payment systems and e-cardsystems is usually boring and unimaginative when compared to in-persongift giving, and enhancing the experience of the gift provider and therecipient may add value and satisfaction to the gift giving processregardless of the type of gift.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices, systems, and methodsthat enable electronic gift-giving, and embodiments of the presentdisclosure are directed to this and other considerations.

SUMMARY

Disclosed embodiments provide systems and methods for providing aredeemable commerce object (e.g., providing a redeemable commerce objecton a web page).

Consistent with the disclosed embodiments, the system may include one ormore memory devices storing instructions, and one or more processorsconfigured to execute the instructions to perform steps of a method toprovide a redeemable commerce object on a webpage. The system mayexecute the instructions to receive an object placement request, whichincludes identification data associated with a first account, from afirst computing device. In response, the system may determine whether atleast a portion of the identification data corresponds to accountidentification data stored in an account identification database. Basedon the determination, the system may activate a link to a web pageconfigured to receive a redeemable commerce object, and provide theredeemable commerce object on the web page. The system may then receivean object selection request, which includes identification dataassociated with a second account, associated with the redeemablecommerce object from a second computing device that has accessed the webpage via the activated link. Based on the object selection request, thesystem may transfer payment from the first account to the second accountto redeem the commerce object.

Consistent with the disclosed embodiments, methods for providing aredeemable commerce object on a web page are also provided.

Further features of the disclosed design, and the advantages offeredthereby, are explained in greater detail hereinafter with reference tospecific embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whereinlike elements are indicated be like reference designators.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and which are incorporated into andconstitute a portion of this disclosure, illustrate variousimplementations and aspects of the disclosed technology and, togetherwith the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosedtechnology. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary system that may be used forproviding a redeemable commerce object;

FIG. 2 is a component diagram of an exemplary financial service providerterminal;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for providing a redeemablecommerce object on a web page;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another exemplary method for providing aredeemable commerce object on a webpage;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for providing a commerceobject, which is redeemable by one or more of a plurality of computingdevices, on a webpage; and

FIG. 6 shows a commerce object icon on a webpage in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some implementations of the disclosed technology will be described morefully with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosedtechnology may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein. Thecomponents described hereinafter as making up various elements of thedisclosed technology are intended to be illustrative and notrestrictive. Many suitable components that would perform the same orsimilar functions as components described herein are intended to beembraced within the scope of the disclosed electronic devices andmethods. Such other components not described herein may include, but arenot limited to, for example, components developed after development ofthe disclosed technology.

It is also to be understood that the mention of one or more method stepsdoes not preclude the presence of additional method steps or interveningmethod steps between those steps expressly identified. Similarly, it isalso to be understood that the mention of one or more components in adevice or system does not preclude the presence of additional componentsor intervening components between those components expressly identified.

The disclosed embodiments are directed to systems and methods forproviding a redeemable commerce object on a web page. In one aspect, asystem for providing a redeemable commerce object on a web page isdisclosed. Specifically, the system may include one or more memorydevices storing instructions, and one or more processors configured toexecute the instructions to perform steps of a method. The system mayreceive an object placement request from a first computing device. Theobject placement request may include identification data associated witha first account. The system may determine whether at least a portion ofthe identification data corresponds to account information data storedin an account identification database. Based on the determination, thesystem may activate a link to a web page configured to receive aredeemable commerce object. The system may further provide theredeemable commerce object on the web page based on the object placementrequest. Additionally, the system may receive an object selectionrequest associated with the redeemable commerce object from a secondcomputing device, which has accessed the web page via the activatedlink. The object selection request may include identification dataassociated with a second account. Finally, the system may transferpayment from the first account to the second account to redeem thecommerce object based on the object selection request.

In another aspect, a system for providing a redeemable commerce objecton a web page is disclosed. Specifically, the system may activate a linkto a web page configured to receive one or more redeemable commerceobjects. The system may also provide the one or more redeemable commerceobjects on the web page, and provide the activated link to the web pageto a plurality of computing devices. From a first computing device ofthe plurality of computing devices having accessed the web page via theactivated link, the system may receive a first object selection requestassociated with a first redeemable commerce object of the one or moreredeemable commerce objects. The first object selection request mayinclude identification data associated with a first account. Based onthe first object selection request, the system may activate the firstredeemable commerce object for redemption based on the first objectselection request. Finally, the system may provide the activated firstredeemable commerce object to the first account based on the firstobject selection request.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions is disclosed. The instructions, when executed by one ormore processors, may cause a computing device to perform steps of amethod for providing a redeemable commerce object on a web page.Specifically, the computing device may receive an object placementrequest from a first computing device. The object placement request mayinclude identification data associated with a first account. Thecomputing device may determine whether at least a portion of theidentification data corresponds to account information data stored in anaccount identification database. Based on the determination, thecomputing device may activate a link to a web page configured to receivea redeemable commerce object. The computing device may further providethe redeemable commerce object on the web page based on the objectplacement request. Additionally, the computing device may receive anobject selection request associated with the redeemable commerce objectfrom a second computing device, which has accessed the web page via theactivated link. The object selection request may include identificationdata associated with a second account. Finally, the computing device maytransfer payment from the first account to the second account to redeemthe commerce object based on the object selection request.

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of thedisclosed technology, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and disclosed herein. Wherever convenient, thesame references numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer tothe same or like parts.

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an exemplary system that may be configured toperform one or more software processes that, when executed, provide aredeemable commerce object (e.g., a gift card, a monetary gift, adiscount coupon, etc.) on a web page. The components and arrangementsshown in FIG. 1 are not intended to limit the disclosed embodiments asthe components used to implement the disclosed processes and featuresmay vary.

In accordance with disclosed embodiments, a redeemable commerce objectsystem 100 may include a provider client terminal 110A, a recipientclient terminal 110B, a financial service provider terminal 120, and amerchant terminal 130, each communicating with a network 140. Clientterminals 110A, B may be connected to financial service providerterminal 120 and merchant terminal 130 directly or via network 140.Financial service provider terminal 120 may be connected to merchantterminal 130 directly or via network 140. Other components known to oneof ordinary skill in the art may be included in redeemable commerceobject system 100 to process, transmit, provide, and receive informationconsistent with the disclosed embodiments.

Provider client terminal 110A may allow one or more potential providersto request to provide a redeemable commerce object to one or morepotential recipients associated with recipient client terminal 110B. Forexample, a provider may request to provide a redeemable commerce objectto a recipient, and wish to transfer funds via a person-to-person orpeer-to-peer (“P2P”) payment. A P2P payment may allow the transfer offunds from one user's account to another user's account. For example, afirst user may send money from their bank account to a second user'sbank account via a P2P payment. If both users have bank accounts withthe same financial institution or as part of the same P2P network, thetransfer of a P2P payment may be performed instantaneously at the timeof initiation of the payment. If the users have bank accounts atnon-participating financial institutions, the transfer of a P2P paymentmay be delayed. For example, financial institutions commonly require twodays to post a money transfer payment upon receiving confirmation of theaccount details of the recipient. A P2P payment may be initiated by theprovider entering identifying information of the recipient, such as therecipient's name, email address and/or account numbers. Based on theidentifying information of the recipient, the system may identify anaccount associated with the recipient. The recipient may be required toenter some authenticating information before the transfer will becompleted. The provider and recipient(s) may be any type of user, suchas an online user, and may include an existing, potential, or newcustomer of a financial service provider or be unaffiliated with thefinancial service provider. Although the example of a P2P paymenttransfer is disclosed, the provider may provide any kind of product.

Operating in communication with network 140, each of the clientterminals 110A, B may be a computer-based system. For example, each ofthe client terminals 110A, B may include a general purpose or notebookcomputer, a mobile device with computing ability, a server, a desktopcomputer, tablet, or any combination of these computers and/oraffiliated components. Client terminals 110A, B may include one or moresensors such as a camera, a microphone, a gyroscope, and/or a GPSreceiver. In one embodiment, each of the client terminals 110A, B may bea computer system or device that is operated by a user who is a customeror a potential customer of a financial service provider. In anotherembodiment, each of the client terminals 110A, B may be a mobilecomputer device that is operated by a potential customer of a financialservice provider at a predetermined location or geographic area (e.g., apoint-of-sale location). Each of the client terminals 110A, B may beconfigured with storage that stores one or more operating systems thatperform known operating system functions when executed by one or moreprocessors. By way of example, the operating systems may includeMicrosoft Windows™, Unix™, Linux™, Apple™ operating systems, PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA) type operating systems, such as Microsoft CE™,or other types of operating systems. Accordingly, disclosed embodimentsmay operate and function with computer systems running any type ofoperating system. The client terminals 110A, B may also includecommunication software that, when executed by a processor, providescommunications with network 140, such as Web browser software, tablet,or smart hand held device networking software, etc. Each of the clientterminals 110A, B may be a device that executes mobile applications,such as a tablet or mobile device.

Financial service provider terminal 120 may allow any number offinancial service providers, such as banks, credit card companies,merchants, lenders, and the like, to offer and provide redeemablecommerce objects to recipients on behalf of a provider, who may be anexisting, new, or potential customer. Although financial serviceproviders may operate in the direct model, the financial serviceproviders may be any type of financial service provider, such as amerchant selling an item to be purchased. Financial service providerterminal 120 may be a computer-based system including computer systemcomponents, such as one or more servers, desktop computers,workstations, tablets, hand held computing devices, memory devices,and/or internal network(s) connecting the components. As shown in FIG.1, financial service provider terminal 120 may include a server 122and/or an authentication database 124. An authentication database 124may provide a database of credentials, such as, for example, usernames,logins, passwords, pin numbers, account numbers, security questions, andother such authentication data, that may be used to verify the identityof a user accessing the system.

Merchant terminal 130 may allow any number of merchants to provide goodsor services in exchange for payment via a particular payment system.Merchants using merchant terminal 130 may include traditionalbrick-and-mortar retail merchants, or any type of merchant, such as anonline retail merchant. Each merchant may communicate directly orindirectly with financial service provider terminal 120 in order tofinalize or verify the terms of a to-be-redeemed commerce object.Merchant terminal 130 may be a computer-based system including computersystem components, such as one or more servers, desktop computers,workstations, tablets, hand held computing devices, memory devices,and/or internal network(s) connecting the components.

Network 140 may comprise any type of computer networking arrangementused to exchange data. For example, network 140 may be the Internet, aprivate data network, or a virtual private network using a publicnetwork such as the Internet. Network 140 may also include a publicswitched telephone network (“PSTN”) and/or a wireless network.

To communicate over network 140, a computing device associated withprovider client terminal 110A, recipient client terminal 110B, financialservice provider terminal 120, or merchant terminal 130 may be a mobilecomputing device (e.g., a smart phone, tablet computer, smart wearabledevice, or portable laptop computer) or a stationary computing device(e.g., a stationary desktop or laptop computer). Being mobile, in someembodiments, may advantageously allow one or more of the clientterminals 110A, B to communicate with other devices in the redeemablecommerce object system 100 from a predetermined location or area (e.g.,at a point-of-sale location).

Financial service provider terminal 120 is shown in more detail in FIG.2. Client terminals 110A, B and merchant terminal 130 may have a similarstructure and components that are similar to those described withrespect to financial service provider terminal 120. As shown, financialservice provider terminal 120 may include a processor 210, aninput/output (“I/O”) device 220, a memory 230 containing an operatingsystem (“OS”) 240 and a program 250. For example, financial serviceprovider terminal 120 may be a single server or may be configured as adistributed computer system including multiple servers or computers thatinteroperate to perform one or more of the processes and functionalitiesassociated with the disclosed embodiments. In some embodiments, thefinancial service provider terminal 120 may further include a display(or a display interface), a peripheral interface, a transceiver, amobile network interface in communication with the processor 210, a busconfigured to facilitate communication between the various components ofthe financial service provider terminal 120, and a power source 130configured to power one or more components of the financial serviceprovider terminal 120. A display may include any conventional displaymechanism such as a flat panel display, projector, or any other displaymechanism known to those having ordinary skill in the art. In someembodiments, a display, in conjunction with suitable storedinstructions, may be used to implement a graphical user interface. Inother embodiments, a display may include a display interface configuredto receive or communicate with one or more external displays. Thefinancial service provider terminal may further include a soundinterface, a camera interface, a telephony subsystem, an antennainterface, and a GPS receiver.

A peripheral interface may include the hardware, firmware and/orsoftware that enables communication with various peripheral devices,such as media drives (e.g., magnetic disk, solid state, or optical diskdrives), other processing devices, or any other input source used inconnection with the instant techniques. In some embodiments, aperipheral interface may include a serial port, a parallel port, ageneral purpose input and output (GPIO) port, a game port, a universalserial bus (USB), a micro-USB port, a high definition multimedia (HDMI)port, a video port, an audio port, a Bluetooth port, a near-fieldcommunication (NFC) port, another like communication interface, or anycombination thereof.

In some embodiments, a transceiver may be configured to communicate withcompatible devices and ID tags when they are within a predeterminedrange. A transceiver may be compatible with one or more of:radio-frequency identification (RFID), near-field communication (NFC),Bluetooth®, low-energy Bluetooth® (BLE), WiFi™, ZigBee®, ambientbackscatter communications (ABC) protocols or similar technologies.

A mobile network interface may provide access to a cellular network, theInternet, or another wide-area network. In some embodiments, a mobilenetwork interface may include hardware, firmware, and/or software thatallows the processor(s) 210 to communicate with other devices via wiredor wireless networks, whether local or wide area, private or public, asknown in the art. A power source may be configured to provide anappropriate alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) to powercomponents.

Processor 120 may include one or more of a microprocessor,microcontroller, digital signal processor, co-processor or the like orcombinations thereof capable of executing stored instructions andoperating upon stored data. Memory 230 may include, in someimplementations, one or more suitable types of memory (e.g. such asvolatile or non-volatile memory, random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks,floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash memory, aredundant array of independent disks (RAID), and the like), for storingfiles including an operating system, application programs (including,for example, a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, andor other applications, as necessary), executable instructions and data.In one embodiment, the processing techniques described herein areimplemented as a combination of executable instructions and data withinthe memory 230.

Processor 210 may be one or more known processing devices, such as amicroprocessor from the Pentium™ family manufactured by Intel™ or theTurion™ family manufactured by AMD™ Processor 210 may constitute asingle core or multiple core processor that executes parallel processessimultaneously. For example, processor 210 may be a single coreprocessor that is configured with virtual processing technologies. Incertain embodiments, processor 210 may use logical processors tosimultaneously execute and control multiple processes. Processor 210 mayimplement virtual machine technologies, or other similar knowntechnologies to provide the ability to execute, control, run,manipulate, store, etc. multiple software processes, applications,programs, etc. In another embodiment, processor 210 may include amultiple-core processor arrangement (e.g., dual or quad core) that isconfigured to provide parallel processing functionalities to allowserver 200 to execute multiple processes simultaneously. One of ordinaryskill in the art would understand that other types of processorarrangements could be implemented that provide for the capabilitiesdisclosed herein.

Financial service provider terminal 120 may include one or more storagedevices configured to store information used by processor 210 (or othercomponents) to perform certain functions related to the disclosedembodiments. In one example, financial service provider 210 may includememory 230 that includes instructions to enable processor 210 to executeone or more applications, such as server applications, networkcommunication processes, and any other type of application or softwareknown to be available on computer systems. Alternatively, theinstructions, application programs, etc. may be stored in an externalstorage or available from a memory over a network. The one or morestorage devices may be a volatile or non-volatile, magnetic,semiconductor, tape, optical, removable, non-removable, or other type ofstorage device or tangible computer-readable medium.

In one embodiment, financial service provider terminal 120 includesmemory 230 that includes instructions that, when executed by processor210, perform one or more processes consistent with the functionalitiesdisclosed herein. Methods, systems, and articles of manufactureconsistent with disclosed embodiments are not limited to separateprograms or computers configured to perform dedicated tasks. Forexample, financial service provider terminal 120 may include memory 230that may include one or more programs 250 to perform one or morefunctions of the disclosed embodiments. Moreover, processor 210 mayexecute one or more programs 250 located remotely from redeemablecommerce object system 100. For example, redeemable commerce objectsystem 100 may access one or more remote programs 250, that, whenexecuted, perform functions related to disclosed embodiments.

Memory 230 may include one or more memory devices that store data andinstructions used to perform one or more features of the disclosedembodiments. Memory 230 may also include any combination of one or moredatabases controlled by memory controller devices (e.g., server(s),etc.) or software, such as document management systems, Microsoft SQLdatabases, SharePoint databases, Oracle™ databases, Sybase™ databases,or other relational databases. Memory 230 may include softwarecomponents that, when executed by processor 210, perform one or moreprocesses consistent with the disclosed embodiments.

Financial service provider terminal 120 may also be communicativelyconnected to one or more memory devices (e.g., databases (not shown))locally or through a network. The remote memory devices may beconfigured to store information and may be accessed and/or managed byfinancial service provider terminal 120. By way of example, the remotememory devices may be document management systems, Microsoft SQLdatabase, SharePoint databases, Oracle™ databases, Sybase™ databases, orother relational databases. Systems and methods consistent withdisclosed embodiments, however, are not limited to separate databases oreven to the use of a database.

Financial service provider terminal 120 may also include one or more I/Odevices 220 that may comprise one or more interfaces for receivingsignals or input from devices and providing signals or output to one ormore devices that allow data to be received and/or transmitted byfinancial service provider terminal 120. For example, financial serviceprovider terminal 120 may include interface components, which mayprovide interfaces to one or more input devices, such as one or morekeyboards, mouse devices, touch screens, track pads, trackballs, scrollwheels, digital cameras, microphones, sensors, and the like, that enablefinancial service provider terminal 120 to receive data from one or moreusers (such as customer terminal 110). In other exemplary embodiments,the I/O devices 220 may serve as the sound interface and/or the camerainterface to present information to a user and capture information froma device's environment including instructions from the device's user. Asadditional examples, input components may include an accelerometer(e.g., for movement detection), a magnetometer, a digital camera, amicrophone (e.g., for sound detection), an infrared sensor, an opticalsensor, and a GPS receiver.

In exemplary embodiments of the disclosed technology, the financialservice provider terminal 120 may include any number of hardware and/orsoftware applications that are executed to facilitate any of theoperations. In example implementations, one or more I/O interfacesfacilitate communication between the financial service provider terminal120 and one or more input/output devices. For example, a universalserial bus port, a serial port, a disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, and/or oneor more user interface devices, such as a display, keyboard, keypad,mouse, control panel, touch screen display, microphone, etc., mayfacilitate user interaction with the computing device. The one or moreI/O interfaces may be utilized to receive or collect data and/or userinstructions from a wide variety of input devices. Received data may beprocessed by one or more computer processors as desired in variousimplementations of the disclosed technology and/or stored in one or morememory devices.

While the financial service provider terminal 120 has been described asone form for implementing the techniques described herein, those havingordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other, functionallyequivalent techniques may be employed. For example, as known in the art,some or all of the functionality implemented via executable instructionsmay also be implemented using firmware and/or hardware devices such asapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logicarrays, state machines, etc. Furthermore, other implementations of theterminal 120 may include a greater or lesser number of components thanthose illustrated.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of method 300 for providing a redeemablecommerce object on a web page. Method 300 may be performed by financialservice provider terminal 120, or similarly be merchant terminal 130,using processor 210 to execute memory 230. Following method 300, thefinancial service provider may provide the recipient with a redeemablecommerce object.

In block 302, financial service provider terminal 120 may receive aredeemable commerce object request from a provider (e.g., via providerclient terminal 110A). A redeemable commerce object request mayrepresent an indication of the desire of a user of the system (e.g., theuser of the provider client terminal 110A) to provide a redeemablecommerce object for another user (e.g., the user of the recipient clientterminal 110B). According to some embodiments, a redeemable commerceobject may be a link, an icon, an image, or any other such electronicrepresentation that may be selected by a user and redeemed for value.For example, in some cases a redeemable commerce object may be redeemedfor cash, a gift card, a product, or any other item of value that aprovider may wish to convey to a recipient. A redeemable commerce objectrequest may include a selection of the account the provider wishes touse to pay for the redeemable object, contact information of therecipient, a selection of a redeemable commerce object icon to representthe redeemable commerce object, a selection of the redeemable object, anembedding location (i.e., a location within a web site to place theredeemable commerce object icon), and authentication data (e.g., ananswer to a question or riddle, a code or password, or a location of therecipient) that the recipient must provide (e.g., via recipient clientterminal 110B) to redeem the commerce object.

In some embodiments, the object placement request may includeidentification data associated with a first account, such as, forexample, identifying information associated with a bank accountassociated with the financial service provider of terminal 120, a bankaccount associated with a third party financial service provider, acredit card account, a gift card account, a rewards account, or anyother such financial account that may be used to provide payments.Identification data associated with a first account may include a loginname, password, pin, account number, or any other such data that issuitable to identify the requester. For example, the identification datamay be a login and password for an online banking portal associated witha financial service provider. In some embodiments, if the requester doesnot possess identification data associated with a first account, such asa login to a bank account, the system may prompt the requester to signup for an account.

In some embodiments, the redeemable commerce object request may bereceived by the merchant terminal 130. The merchant terminal 130 mayinteract with the financial service provider terminal 120 to convey theidentification data associated with a first account to the financialservice provider terminal 120 through an API.

In block 304, financial service provider terminal 120 may determinewhether at least a portion of the identification data corresponds toaccount identification data stored in an account identificationdatabase. For example, the financial service provider terminal 120 maycompare login credentials submitted by the provider client terminal 110Ato credentials stored in an authentication database 124. Once the userof the provider client terminal 110A has been authenticated, the systemmay, for example, enable the user to purchase the redeemable commerceobject using funds from an authenticated account, and the funds may bewithdrawn at that time or later on (e.g., when the commerce object isredeemed).

Next, as shown in block 306, financial service provider terminal 120 mayactivate a link to a web page configured to receive a redeemablecommerce object. Activation of a link may mean that the web site hasbecome publically accessible or accessible by one or more specifiedusers. In some embodiments, the activation of the link to the web pagemay occur in response to a positive determination that at least aportion of the identification data corresponds to account identificationdata stored in an account identification database, as described withrespect to block 304. For example, once a user of the provider clientterminal 110A has been authenticated such that payment using anassociated account may be authorized, the link to the web page may beactivated. According to some embodiments, the financial service providerterminal 120 may activate the link to the webpage. In some embodiments,a merchant terminal 130 may activate the link to the web page, inresponse to, for example, receiving notification from the financialservice provider terminal 120 that at least a portion of theidentification data corresponds to account information data stored inthe account identification database. It should be understood thatthroughout this disclosure, it is contemplated that the web page that isconfigured to receive a redeemable commerce object may be hosted byeither the financial service provider or a merchant, and thus, as willbe understood by those of skill in the art, various steps of the methodsdescribed herein may be performed by either the financial serviceprovider terminal 120 or the merchant terminal 130 depending on wherethe web page is hosted.

Once the web page link is activated, the web page link may be providedto a recipient to access the web page. For example, the web page linkmay be emailed to a recipient. In some embodiments, the web page or webpage link may allow one or more specified recipients to access the webpage. A recipient may utilize the web page link to access the web pagein order to search for the redeemable commerce object.

In block 308, the redeemable commerce object may be provided to the webpage based on the object placement request. The redeemable commerceobject may be provided by the host of the web page, which may be eitherthe financial service provider terminal 120 or the merchant terminal 130(or, for example, a server associated with either), by modifying theHTML code (or other applicable code) of a web page to include theredeemable commerce object within the web page. In some embodiments, theweb page may be a copy of a previously existing, public web page thathas been modified to include a representation of the redeemable commerceobject among the text, icons, and images of the web page. According tosome embodiments, the purchaser of the redeemable commerce object (e.g.,the provider) may be enabled to select the location within the web pageat which the redeemable commerce object may be placed. In someembodiments, the system may automatically position the redeemablecommerce object at one of a plurality of predetermined locations on theweb page based on the object placement request. In some embodiments, theredeemable commerce object may be selectable, and when selected, mayprovide the selector (e.g., the recipient) with the capability ofredeeming the redeemable commerce object. In some embodiments, aredeemable commerce object may include a plurality of separate icons,images, and/or links that may be placed at different locations withinone or more web pages. In such cases, a recipient may be required tolocate and select a plurality of icons, images, and/or links, answer oneor more questions, and/or travel to predetermined location areas (e.g.,location of a first date or wedding venue) along the way in order toredeem the redeemable commerce object. In this manner, the recipient maybe challenged (e.g., by riddles or a scavenger hunt) or reminded of pastevents (e.g., exposed to photographs, music, and/or locations sharedwith the provider), for example, thereby enhancing the experience ofredeeming the gift. As the provider can customize the experience for therecipient and/or reminisce on past events when providing the gift, theexperience for the provider may also be enhanced.

In block 310, the host of the website (e.g., either the financialservice provider terminal 120 or merchant terminal 130) may receive anobject selection request associated with the redeemable commerce object,from, for example, a recipient client terminal 110B. The objectselection request may constitute a request to redeem the redeemablecommerce object by, for example, selecting one or more redeemablecommerce object icons, images, and/or links as described above. In someembodiments, when selected, the system may cause the appearance of theredeemable commerce object to be modified. The object selection requestmay include identification data associated with an account of therecipient, for example, a bank account associated with the financialservice provider of terminal 120, a third party bank account, a merchantaccount, or any other account that may be suitable for receiving thevalue redeemed from the redeemable commerce object.

In some embodiments, the system may authenticate the recipient inresponse to receiving the object selection request, by, for example,comparing a portion of the identification data associated with anaccount of the recipient to data stored in an authentication database(e.g., authentication database 124). For example, in some embodiments,the recipient may provide login credentials associated with thefinancial service provider of terminal 120. In some embodiments, arecipient may be required to enter a password or pin associated with theredeemable commerce object in order to redeem it. According to someembodiments, recipient authentication may be based on the location ofthe recipient. For example, in some embodiments, the recipient may berequired to go to a physical location area (e.g., a particular store) inorder to be enabled to redeem the redeemable commerce object.Accordingly, in some embodiments, an object selection request mayinclude GPS coordinates of the recipient client terminal 110B which maybe used by the system to authenticate the recipient's location. Thesystem may compare the location of the recipient client terminal 110B toa predetermined location. As will be understood by those of skill in theart, this may be performed by, for example, determining whether thelocation of the recipient client terminal 110B is within a thresholdrange from a specified location or whether it is within the bounds of aspecified geographic area. In alternative embodiments, RFID tags orother positioning technologies may be used to provide position data ofthe recipient client terminal 110B in lieu of or in addition to GPSposition data.

At block 312, the system may cause the transfer of payment from theaccount of the provider to the account of the recipient to redeem thecommerce object based on the selection request. For example, the systemmay cause funds to be transferred from the provider's account to therecipient's account. In some embodiments, the transfer may be a P2Ptransfer, as described above. In some embodiments, the transfer ofpayment may be predicated on the authentication of the recipient. Forexample, if the recipient has not been authenticated, the transfer maybe blocked and the recipient may be unable to redeem the redeemablecommerce object. Upon a transfer being made, the system may send anotification to the provider client terminal 110A and/or recipientclient terminal 110B.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of method 400 for providing a redeemablecommerce object on a web page. Method 400 may be performed by financialservice provider terminal 120, or similarly be merchant terminal 130,using processor 210 to execute memory 230. Following method 400, thefinancial service provider may provide the customer with a redeemablecommerce object. Method 400 may include various steps that aresubstantially similar to steps from method 300 described above,including: receiving an object placement request from a first computingdevice comprising identification data associated with a first account(block 402), determining whether at least a portion of theidentification data corresponds to account identification data (block404), activating a link to a web page configured to receive a redeemablecommerce object (block 406), providing the redeemable commerce object onthe web page (block 408), receiving an object selection requestassociated with the redeemable commerce object where the objectselection request includes identification data associated with a secondaccount (block 410), and initiating a payment transfer from the firstaccount to the second account (block 412).

At block 414, the system may provide a confirmation notification to thefirst computing device (e.g., provider client terminal 110A) followingthe initiation of a payment transfer from the first account to thesecond account. In some embodiments, the system may provide notificationto an email account or phone number associated with the user of theprovider client terminal 110A. In further embodiments, the system mayallow the recipient to provide (e.g., via recipient client terminal110B) a personalized response as part of the notification.

At block 416, the system may receive authentication data from the secondcomputing device (e.g., the recipient client terminal 110B). Asdescribed above, this authentication data may include, for example, apin number, a password, an answer to a question, and/or location data(e.g., GPS data) associated with the second computing device.

At block 418, the system may determine whether the authentication datafrom the second computing device (e.g., the recipient client terminal110B) corresponds to stored authentication data. For example, the systemmay compare the received pin number to a stored pin number associatedwith the redeemable commerce object. In another example, the system maycompare the GPS data of the second computing device to a stored locationto determine whether the second computing device is within apredetermined proximity to the stored location. In yet another example,authentication data may include a username and password that may becompared to an authentication database (e.g., authentication database124). As those of skill in the art will recognize, there may be manypossible types of authentication data that may be used to authenticate acomputing device or the identity of the user of a computing device andthese examples are intended to be non-limiting.

At block 420, the transfer of the payment from the first account to thesecond account will be allowed if the authentication data received fromthe second computing device is authenticated. However, if theauthentication data received from the second computing device is notauthenticated, the method 400 may follow path 422 and return to block416 to receive authentication data from the second computing deviceagain. According to some embodiments, the second computing device maycontinue to submit authentication data until the second computing devicehas been authenticated. In some embodiments, the second computing devicemay only be able to submit incorrect authentication data a predeterminednumber of times, at which point the transfer of funds may be canceledand the redeemable commerce object may be no longer redeemed.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of method 500 for providing a redeemablecommerce object on a web page to be accessed by multiple recipients.Method 500 may be performed by financial service provider terminal 120,or similarly be merchant terminal 130, using processor 210 to executememory 230. Following method 500, the financial service provider mayprovide multiple recipients with a redeemable commerce object. At block502, a link to a web page configured to receive one or more redeemablecommerce objects may be activated as previously described above. Atblock 504, one or more redeemable commerce objects may be provided onthe web page as previously described above. At block 506, the system mayprovide the link to the web page to a plurality of computing devices.For example, the link may be emailed to a plurality of recipients orposted on a webpage that is accessible by a plurality of users. At block508, the system may receive a first object selection request associatedwith a first redeemable commerce object of the one or more redeemablecommerce objects from a first computing device of the plurality ofcomputing devices, wherein the first computing device is associated witha first account and the first computing device accessed the web pageusing the link. Similar to that which has been previously describedabove, the first object selection request may include identificationdata associated with the first account. At block 510, the firstredeemable commerce object may be activated for redemption based on thefirst object selection request, by, for example, receiving an indicationthat the redeemable commerce object has been selected by a user of thefirst computing device. At block 512, the first redeemable commerceobject may be provided to the first account based on the first objectselection request. For example, funds, discounts, or other value may betransferred into the first account in response to receiving the firstobject selection request.

FIG. 6 shows an example web page 600 including a redeemable commerceobject 640. The web page 600 may include a background layer 610. On topof the background layer 610, the web page 600 may include text 620 andicons 630. As shown, the redeemable commerce object 640 may be an iconsuch as a treasure chest that is “hidden” on the web page among thepreviously existing text 620 and icons 630. It is contemplated that, insome embodiments, the redeemable commerce object 640 may only becomevisible after an action by a viewer of the webpage (e.g., scrolling overthe object 640, entering a required code, providing location datacorresponding to a predetermined location via the recipient's device,etc.). In some embodiments, the web page 600 may be privately accessiblecopy of a public web page that has been modified to include theredeemable commerce object 640. According to some embodiments, theredeemable commerce object 640 may be a selectable icon and the commerceobject associated with it may be redeemed by a user locating it withinthe web page and selecting the redeemable commerce object 640.

Exemplary Use Case

The following exemplary use case describes one example of a typical userflow pattern. It is intended solely for explanatory purposes and not inlimitation. In this example, a provider may desire to give a gift to arecipient using the system described herein. The provider may access thesystem and place a request to purchase or claim a redeemable commerceobject (“treasure”). The request may include the type of treasure thepurchaser wishes to buy (e.g., a gift card, cash, a game, a product, aphotograph, a dinner or event, etc.) as well as an icon to represent thetreasure. The purchaser may enter their account information, such asbank account information, to enable the purchase of the treasure. Inresponse to the request to purchase the treasure, a unique web pagecontaining the treasure icon may be created by the system (or anexisting web page may be updated to contain the treasure icon). The webpage may be a copy of a publically accessible webpage that has beenmodified to include the treasure somewhere within the web page. In someembodiments, the system may allow the purchaser to select where theobject will be “hidden” within the web page. In some embodiments, thesystem may automatically “hide” the treasure on the web page.

After the web page has been created (e.g., a link to a web pageincluding the treasure has been created), a link may be sent to therecipient to access the page. The recipient may view the page byaccessing the link and may hunt for the treasure icon within the page.Upon locating the treasure icon, the recipient may redeem the commerceobject by, for example, selecting the treasure icon and providingauthenticating information. For example, the recipient may enter theirname, username, account number, pin number, or provide their location(or the recipient's device may provide this information automatically)in order to authenticate themselves. If the recipient does not have anaccount with the financial service provider, the system may prompt therecipient to create an account in order to redeem the treasure or allowthe recipient to designate an external account with another financialservice provider or a merchant. Once the recipient has beenauthenticated, the treasure may be redeemed, and a transfer of commercevalue (e.g., funds, discounts, etc.) may occur from the purchaser'saccount to the recipient's account. Meanwhile, the provider may enjoythe experience of creating a customized experience for the recipient,and the recipient may enjoy the customized experience to redeem thetreasure. In this manner, a merely monetary gift (e.g., down-payment ona first car to a child) may be enhanced into an experience as well(e.g., viewing photographs of old birthdays, traveling to particularlocations as a scavenger hunt, etc.)

For convenience and ease of discussion, implementations of the disclosedtechnology are described above in connection with a financial or bankingaccount associated with a user. It is to be understood that thedisclosed implementations are not limited to financial service provideror banking accounts and are applicable to various other accountsassociated with a user's sensitive information (e.g., utility/serviceaccounts, medical information, and various other sensitive information).

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system”and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, such asbut not limited to hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor,an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running on acomputing device and the computing device can be a component. One ormore components can reside within a process and/or thread of executionand a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributedbetween two or more computers. In addition, these components can executefrom various computer readable media having various data structuresstored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/orremote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or moredata packets, such as data from one component interacting with anothercomponent in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a networksuch as the Internet with other systems by way of the signal

Certain implementations of the disclosed technology are described abovewith reference to block and flow diagrams of systems and methods and/orcomputer program products according to example implementations of thedisclosed technology. It will be understood that one or more blocks ofthe block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theblock diagrams and flow diagrams, respectively, can be implemented bycomputer-executable program instructions. Likewise, some blocks of theblock diagrams and flow diagrams may not necessarily need to beperformed in the order presented, may be repeated, or may notnecessarily need to be performed at all, according to someimplementations of the disclosed technology.

These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto ageneral-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a processor, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particularmachine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer,processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create meansfor implementing one or more functions specified in the flow diagramblock or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be storedin a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meansthat implement one or more functions specified in the flow diagram blockor blocks. As an example, implementations of the disclosed technologymay provide for a computer program product, including a computer-usablemedium having a computer-readable program code or program instructionsembodied therein, said computer-readable program code adapted to beexecuted to implement one or more functions specified in the flowdiagram block or blocks. Likewise, the computer program instructions maybe loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processingapparatus to cause a series of operational elements or steps to beperformed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce acomputer-implemented process such that the instructions that execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide elements or stepsfor implementing the functions specified in the flow diagram block orblocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams supportcombinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of elements or steps for performing the specifiedfunctions, and program instruction means for performing the specifiedfunctions. It will also be understood that each block of the blockdiagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and flow diagrams, can be implemented by special-purpose,hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions,elements or steps, or combinations of special-purpose hardware andcomputer instructions.

Throughout the specification and the claims, the following terms take atleast the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. The term “connected” means that onefunction, feature, structure, or characteristic is directly joined to orin communication with another function, feature, structure, orcharacteristic. The term “coupled” means that one function, feature,structure, or characteristic is directly or indirectly joined to or incommunication with another function, feature, structure, orcharacteristic. The term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or.”Further, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean one or moreunless specified otherwise or clear from the context to be directed to asingular form.

In this description, numerous specific details have been set forth. Itis to be understood, however, that implementations of the disclosedtechnology may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not beenshown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of thisdescription. References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “someembodiments,” “example embodiment,” “various embodiments,” “oneimplementation,” “an implementation,” “example implementation,” “variousimplementations,” “some implementations,” etc., indicate that theimplementation(s) of the disclosed technology so described may include aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not everyimplementation necessarily includes the particular feature, structure,or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in oneimplementation” does not necessarily refer to the same implementation,although it may.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to describe a commonobject, merely indicate that different instances of like objects arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

While certain implementations of the disclosed technology have beendescribed in connection with what is presently considered to be the mostpractical and various implementations, it is to be understood that thedisclosed technology is not to be limited to the disclosedimplementations, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope ofthe appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, theyare used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

This written description uses examples to disclose certainimplementations of the disclosed technology, including the best mode,and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice certainimplementations of the disclosed technology, including making and usingany devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. Thepatentable scope of certain implementations of the disclosed technologyis defined in the claims, and may include other examples that occur tothose skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be withinthe scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do notdiffer from the literal language of the claims, or if they includeequivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from theliteral language of the claims.

1. A system for providing a redeemable commerce object on a web page,comprising: one or more memory devices storing instructions; and one ormore processors configured to execute the instructions to: receive anobject placement request from a first computing device, the objectplacement request comprising identification data associated with a firstaccount; determine whether at least a portion of the identification datacorresponds to account identification data stored in an accountidentification database; activate a link to a web page configured toreceive a redeemable commerce object based on the determination; providethe redeemable commerce object on the web page based on the objectplacement request; receive an object selection request associated withthe redeemable commerce object from a second computing device, thesecond computing device having accessed the web page via the activatedlink, the object selection request comprising identification dataassociated with a second account; and transfer payment from the firstaccount to the second account to redeem the commerce object based on theobject selection request.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one ormore processors are further configured to execute the instructions toprovide a confirmation notification to the first computing device basedon the transferred payment.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one ormore processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:receive authentication data from the second computing device; determinewhether the authentication data corresponds to stored authenticationdata to authenticate the second computing device; and block the paymenttransfer from the first account to the second account until the secondcomputing device is authenticated.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein thesecond computing devices comprises a global positioning system moduleconfigured to determine a location of the second computing device, andthe authentication data comprises location data corresponding to thedetermined location of the second computing device.
 5. The system ofclaim 4, wherein the instructions to authenticate the second computingdevice further cause the one or more processors to determine whether thereceived location data matches a predetermined location area.
 6. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to modify the redeemable commerceobject on the web page based on the object placement request.
 7. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein the instructions to provide the redeemablecommerce object on the web page further cause the one or more processorsto position the redeemable commerce object at one of a plurality ofpredetermined locations on the web page based on the object placementrequest.
 8. A system for providing a redeemable commerce object on a webpage, comprising: one or more memory devices storing instructions; andone or more processors configured to execute the instructions to:activate a link to a web page configured to receive one or moreredeemable commerce objects; provide the one or more redeemable commerceobjects on the web page; provide the activated link to the web page to aplurality of computing devices; receive a first object selection requestassociated with a first redeemable commerce object of the one or moreredeemable commerce objects from a first computing device of theplurality of computing devices, the first computing device havingaccessed the web page via the activated link, the first object selectionrequest comprising identification data associated with a first account;activate the first redeemable commerce object for redemption based onthe first object selection request; and provide the activated firstredeemable commerce object to the first account based on the firstobject selection request.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one ormore processors being configured to execute the instructions to: receivea second object selection request associated with a second redeemablecommerce object of the one or more redeemable commerce objects from asecond computing device of the plurality of computing devices, thesecond computing device having accessed the web page via the activatedlink, the second object selection request comprising identification dataassociated with a second account; activate the second redeemablecommerce object for redemption based on the second object selectionrequest; and provide the activated second redeemable commerce object tothe second account based on the second object selection request.
 10. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors being configuredto execute the instructions to: receive first authentication data fromthe first computing device; determine whether the first authenticationdata corresponds to stored authentication data to authenticate the firstcomputing device; and block the activation of the first redeemablecommerce object, in response to the first object selection request,until the first computing device is authenticated.
 11. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the one or more processors being configured to executethe instructions to, after blocking the activation of the firstredeemable commerce object in response to the first object selectionrequest from the first computing device: receive a second objectselection request associated with the first redeemable commerce objectfrom a second computing device of the plurality of computing devices,the second computing device having accessed the web page via theactivated link, the second object selection request comprisingidentification data associated with a second account; activate the firstredeemable commerce object in response to the second object selectionrequest from the second computing device; and provide the activatedfirst redeemable commerce object to the second account based on thesecond object selection request.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein thefirst computing device comprises a global positioning module configuredto determine a location of the first computing device, and the firstauthentication data comprises location data corresponding to thedetermined location of the first computing device.
 13. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the first redeemable commerce object comprises adiscount coupon that requires activation prior to redemption.
 14. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause a computing device to: receivean object placement request from a first computing device, the objectplacement request comprising identification data associated with a firstaccount; determine whether at least a portion of the identification datacorresponds to account identification data stored in an accountidentification database;\ activate a link to a web page configured toreceive a redeemable commerce object based on the determination; providethe redeemable commerce object on the web page based on the objectplacement request; receive an object selection request associated withthe redeemable commerce object from a second computing device, thesecond computing device having accessed the web page via the activatedlink, the object selection request comprising identification dataassociated with a second account; and transfer payment from the firstaccount to the second account to redeem the commerce object based on theobject selection request.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 13, further storing instructions that, when executed byone or more processors, cause the computing device to provide aconfirmation notification to the first computing device based on thetransferred payment.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 13, further storing instructions that, when executed by one ormore processors, cause the computing device to: receive authenticationdata from the second computing device; determine whether theauthentication data corresponds to stored authentication data toauthenticate the second computing device; and block the payment transferfrom the first account to the second account until the second computingdevice is authenticated.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 15, wherein the second computing devices comprises a globalpositioning system module configured to determine a location of thesecond computing device, and the authentication data comprises locationdata corresponding to the determined location of the second computingdevice.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the instructions to authenticate the second computing devicefurther cause the computing device to determine whether the receivedlocation data matches a predetermined location area.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further storinginstructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause thecomputing device to modify the redeemable commerce object on the webpage based on the object placement request.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions toprovide the redeemable commerce object on the web page further cause thecomputing device to position the redeemable commerce object at one of aplurality of predetermined locations on the web page based on the objectplacement request.